Photo: Mountain Justice
On the heels of the April 23 activist-aborted PNC bank shareholders meeting, the Rainforest Action Network (RAN), Sierra Club, and BankTrack issued their 2013 coal report card. Titled “Extreme Investments: U.S Banks and the Coal Industry”, the authors found that PNC followed Bank of America, Citigroup, and JPMorgan Chase with a ‘C’ for lending and underwriting for companies using mountaintop removall and an ‘F’ for financing companies that transport coal. (more…)
Photo: Mountain Justice
Inside the August Wilson Center for African American Culture in Pittsburgh the shareholders of PNC bank will hold their annual meeting, April 23. One of the resolutions to be voted on will request that the Board of Directors report on the bank’s exposure to climate change related risks and assess the greenhouse gas emissions resulting from its lending, investing, and financing activities. Outside the Center, on this day after Earth Day, protesters will demand that PNC discontinue its financing of companies that practice mountain top removal. This picture is in contrast to PNC’s adoption of ‘green’ practices for its new commercial buildings.
One day after Earth Day, PNC bank will hold it on Shareholders Annual meeting in Pittsburgh. The Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) will gather for an action outside that meeting to protest the bank’s continuing financing of companies that practice mountain top removal through Appalachia.
9:30am, Tuesday, April 23
Market Square, Pittsburgh 15222
March to the shareholder meeting at the
August Wilson Center for African American Culture,
980 Liberty Ave, Pittsburgh 15222
EQAT will be joined by folks directly impacted by mountaintop removal and many other allies such as Energy Action Coalition, to end the public health, environmental and social justice crisis that’s tearing Appalachia apart.
For more information contact: eqateam at gmail dot org
| May 8, 2013 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 7:30 pm |
The 1921 miner’s war on Blair Mountain in Logan County WV was commemorated last year by a march of Mountain Top Removal protesters. Here in Pittsburgh in May the Blair Pathways program focuses on the 92-year old battle as the root of the ongoing struggle for labor rights and environmental justice in West Virginia.
6:00 to 7:30 pm, Wednesday, May 8
The Big idea Bookstore
4812 Liberty Ave
Pittsburgh 15224
For more information contact Randy Francisco at ( randy dot francisco at sierraclub dot org ).
Sidewalk rally outside PNC Bank HQ, Pittsburgh
The following report is from Michael Pastorkovich, a member of our Global Warming Action Team.
On May 16, the Earth Quaker Action Team (EQAT) arrived in Pittsburgh to walk the final three miles of a 200 mile journey that began in Philadelphia on April 30. They finished with a rally in front of the PNC Corporate Headquarters in downtown Pittsburgh. The purpose of the event was to appeal directly to PNC CEO James Rohr to cease funding the environmental destruction of Appalachia in the form of mountaintop removal, longwall mining, and fracking, with the principle focus being on mountaintop removal. (more…)
200-mile walk protesting PNC’s funding of mountaintop removal ends May 16 in Pittsburgh.
To help get PNC bank out of the business of mountaintop removal coal mining, the Earth Quaker Action Team has organized a sixteen day, 200 mile walk from Philadelphia to Pittsburgh, finishing at the PNC headquarters,One PNC Plaza, May 16.
The final stages are May 14 – Greensburg to Murrysville; May 15 – Monroeville to the Pittsburgh Friends Meeting House; where there will be an event at 7 pm. Starting at 9:00am on Wednesday the walk will proceed from the Friends Meeting House on Ellsworth to an 11am rally at PNC head office in Pittsburgh. To sign-up as a Companion Walker, click HERE.
| February 21, 2012 | ||
| 4:00 pm | to | 5:00 pm |
| February 22, 2012 | ||
| 8:00 pm | to | 9:30 pm |
| February 23, 2012 | ||
| 6:00 pm | to | 8:30 pm |
Larry Gibson with Randy Francisco on Blair Mountain march.
Larry Gibson has appeared on ABC’s 20/20, spoke before the United Nations, and visited thousands of community, church, and university groups across the country, organizing to stop mountain top removal.
There are three chances this week for you to meet Larry Gibson and hear his inspiring story. (more…)
| August 21, 2011 | ||
| 8:00 pm | to | 9:00 pm |
“Battle for Blair Mountain“.
A CNN documentary to be re-aired at
8 pm on Sunday, August 21.
Watch local miners seeking work and activists marching to save Blair Mountain from destruction by the coal industry. Read Soledad O’Brien’s preview of the hour long documentary here.
For responses to the Aug. 14 showing of this documentary, see Jeff Biggers column at the Huffington Post.
Please watch and find out how you can help. Contact Randy at randy dot francisco at sierraclub dot org or 412-802-6161.
To forget our past is to choose ignorance.
To choose ignorance is to invite manipulation.
| July 25, 2011 | ||
| 7:30 pm | to | 9:30 pm |
Visitors to this website are invited to a special screening of the movie
“The Last Mountain”
Monday, July 25th at 7:30pm
Harris Theater
809 Liberty Avenue – Pittsburgh 15222
A panel discussion to follow screening featuring: Larry Schweiger, National Wildlife Federation; Dr. Michael Hendryx, West Virginia Rural Health Research Center; Dr. Ben Stout, III, Wheeling Jesuit University; and Lisa Graves Marcucci, Environmental Integrity Project.
Tickets available at the door for $8 ($7 seniors). For those unable to attend this special screening, the movie will be shown at the Harris from Friday, July 22 thru Thursday, July 28.
Climbing to the top of Blair Mountain, June 11.
Photo courtesy of MarchOnBlairMountain.org.
NOTE: Thanks to all who responded to the Appalachia Rising appeal for help when marchers were turned back from their planned camp sits and had to be shuttled elsewhere. The appeal raised a much needed $10,000!
Being able to assemble, march, and peacefully call for protection of a historical site is usually not a big deal. But not in West Virginia when the historical site is where scores of miners were killed in 1921, where a coal company now wants to remove the top of the mountain site, and where King Coal still reigns.
On June 6, two hundred and twenty-five folk of all ages set off from Marmet in Boone County, WV, for a 50-mile trek to Blair Mountain in Logan County. Purpose: to commemorate the 90-year anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain by retracing the steps of those miners 90 years ago, and to protest the proposed mining of the historic site and mountain top removal in general. (more…)
Not only Republicans, but a few Democrats took legislation to continue funding for the Federal government (H.R.1) as an opportunity to not only cut funding, but to remove programs that offend corporate polluters. Unfortunately, local Congressmen Jason Altmire and Mark Critz joined in the attack on EPA by moving away from their Democratic colleagues and siding with the Republican leadership on a number of key amendment votes. We are glad to report that Rep. Mike Doyle steadfastly voted in support of EPA, and for that he deserves our thanks.
At the same time as they attacked measures that protect the public’s health, Reps. Altmire and Critz voted against an amendment to remove $40 billion from the subsidies that taxpayers provide the oil industry. (more…)
Photo courtesy of Mountain Justice
In the spring of this year the Rainforest Action Network and Sierra Club published a report critical of banks who financed coal companies that practice mountain top removal in Appalachia. One of those banks was PNC, based in Pittsburgh. The report did not attract much attention until late summer, when environmental groups picked up the message of calling on bank CEOs to stop this financing.
On November 8, it was reported that PNC would no longer “fund individual projects or provide credit to coal producers whose primary extraction method is mountaintop removal.” This is a welcome change in PNC’s policy, and many THANKS are due all who wrote to PNC Board Chairman James E. Rohr. (more…)
Photo courtesy of Mountain Justice
In 2007 the Bush administration approved Arch Coal’s plans to remove over 2,000 acres of mountain top at the Spruce No. 1 Mine in Logan County, WV. On October 15 EPA’s Region 3 Administrator recommended withdrawal of the mining permit for what would be America’s largest proposed mountaintop removal (MTR) coal mine site. The reason given for the permit withdrawal was the impact of the mining on water quality and aquatic life in the valley streams. (more…)
By now you probably know all about the state’s Office of Homeland Security boys hiring a Philadelphia company to alert local police and emergency agencies about upcoming protest events. The Institute of Terrorism Research and Response’s (ITRR) one-year contract with the state was intended to report events that could lead to actions against the state’s “Critical Infrastructure”.
On September 14, Gov. Rendell said he was “appalled” by this state-sponsored surveillance campaign activity against people practicing their right to free speech. To date, Gov. Rendell has not dismissed the man at the center of the controversy, state Homeland Security Director James Powers, Jr.
Not only does this type of surveillance program send a chilling effect on free speech, it is often inept and absurd as the following example shows.
(more…)
Photo courtesy of Mountain Justice
Banking giant PNC has gained a fair reputation in Pittsburgh for being a ‘green’ corporate member of the community, but its role in financing the destructive practice of mountain top removal is not so ‘green’.
On the company website is the statement “Among America’s top financial institutions, no company has done more to spur the charge, or energize the green cause than PNC. We have taken the lead when it comes to environmentally and employee friendly construction.”
A Green Building Alliance quote on the Website states PNC is “a corporate leader in green building and employee friendliness.” And from the Urban Land Institute’s Awards for Excellence, PNC was among firms from Japan, the Netherlands and United States recognized for its “powerful impact of thoughtful urban design.” (more…)
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